NEW YORK — Moments before the Yankees took the field Monday night, the lights went off at Yankee Stadium and a hype video started playing on the centre field scoreboard. The crowd of 47,264 watched with interest and, in spite of themselves, the Guardians did too.
As highlights of Yankees greats played in the otherwise pitch-black stadium, most observers froze — including the visitors. Then, once it became clear that the highlights of Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Don Mattingly weren’t going to stop any time soon, the Guardians’ relievers looked at one another and started walking to the bullpen.
The distraction was behind them in a moment — they’re professionals, after all. But somehow, a tone had been set: historically, the Yankees have done things no one else has, and as their 59th-ever playoff appearance unfolds, they aren’t here to enjoy the ride and see what happens — they’re here to win.
Not long afterwards, the Yankees started putting together a convincing 5-2 win that featured dominant pitching from Carlos Rodon, Juan Soto’s first post-season home run in pinstripes and a no-doubt insurance homer from Giancarlo Stanton.
“(It’s) just hyper-focus,” Stanton said afterwards. “I understand how important each pitch, each moment is. You’re not always going to be successful in those moments, but (I look for) anything I can do, any bit of information or video — anything I can do to be in my best spot.”
It was a dominant showing, one that gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the ALCS with Gerrit Cole slated to take the ball in Game 2. While the Yankees stayed composed on a chilly night in the Bronx, the Guardians were sloppy, issuing seven walks and allowing runs to score on two of the five wild pitches they threw.
Before the game, Soto spoke about the need to be aggressive against starter Alex Cobb, and control the game early. If anyone’s an authority on the matter, it’s the soon-to-be free agent, who entered play with seven hits in 11 career at-bats against the veteran right-hander.
“Juan Soto is good off a lot of pitchers,” said Guardians manager Stephen Vogt. “We can do all of the scouting reports we want. We can dive into it all we want, but it comes down to executing pitches.”
In the third inning, Cobb was unable to do so. After falling behind in the count 2-0, he left a fastball at the top of the strike zone and Soto crushed it over the right field wall for the first run of the series. He’d also single and walk against Cobb, who was charged with three runs in 2.2 innings.
While the emergence of Soto was crucial for the Yankees after a relatively quiet ALDS, centre fielder Aaron Judge isn’t quite locked in yet. The Guardians are pitching him carefully, as you’d expect following a 58-homer season in which he posted the highest OPS+ by any 21st century hitter not named Barry Bonds.
Judge scored on a wild pitch after drawing a walk and made two stellar catches in the outfield, so he’s still finding ways to contribute. Yet he missed a centre-cut 3-0 fastball from reliever Pedro Avila in the fourth inning, settling for a sacrifice fly instead of something more impactful.
“He’s going to be fine,” Soto said. “I don’t think he has any pressure.”
As for the Yankees’ pitching, it was elite thanks to Rodon and closer Luke Weaver. When asked about his mentality before Game 1, Rodon said he wanted to contain his emotions better than he did in the previous round against the Royals. In preparing to face the Guardians, he drew inspiration from the way Cole walks back to the dugout “like a robot” after each inning regardless of how he pitches.
Facing the Guardians Monday, Rodon had plenty of chances to test his composure. He ended each of his first five innings with strikeouts, and stayed composed each time, mixing in a hop here or a fist pump there but never losing his focus.
“Gosh, he was good,” said Yankees manager Aaron Boone. “It just felt like he was in … complete command of himself and of his emotions. Stuff was excellent — swing and miss.”
By the end of his night, Rodon had allowed just one run — a Brayan Rocchio homer — on three hits while striking out nine. It was a dominant effort, and after swinging and missing at 25 of Rodon’s pitches, the Guardians can’t be excited about the possibility of facing him again in Game 5.
Adding further to the sense of optimism for the Yankees, Anthony Rizzo returned to the active roster just 16 days after fracturing two bones in his right hand. He wore a brace and was careful to high five teammates with his left hand, but still managed a single and a walk.
“It’s just pain,” Rizzo said. “It’s temporary, and the 50,000 people in the stands and the adrenaline and what’s at stake is going to outweigh any pain I’ll be feeling.”
On a scale of 1-10, he said his pain was at “zero.” Using that same scale, the Yankees’ opportunity here is more like an eight or nine. They’re up 1-0 in the ALCS even though their MVP isn’t locked in yet. With their ace on the mound and a full stadium on their side Tuesday, they can take a commanding lead in the series.
Granted it’s baseball, and the Guardians can flip all of this within 24 hours. Maybe they will. But after one game, it’s the Yankees who lived up to the moment and pushed themselves a little closer to their first World Series appearance in 15 years.
“We have a great team,” Soto said. “(We’ll) try to take it all the way.”